dive #1000 & the fishnado Aug 20-27 2016

Dive # 991-1008 August 20-27 2016 Bonaire
Less than  three weeks ago I was playing around with the computer checking airfares and WHAM!  First class on United  $857.81  and coach $537.81. The "new' place we like to stay at sand dollar ocean front condo was available. I had no customers that week and my pet sitter was available..... soooooooo....... off to Bonaire AGAIN!
Seriously, the only way to travel in a somewhat dignified manner is first class. It's worth the money. Your luggage are free, the food (although marginal) is free, you are the first one on and first one off. The seats are never comfortable but at least you are not cramped next to a fat guy that farts non-stop or a mother holding a squirming crying baby that kicks you the entire trip. It's a bit more civilized and breathable.
We dive with "dive friends". They are funny, nice and helpful when you need them. (They fixed Soracha's leaking guage. It needed a "o" ring for the swivel) They "save" mini tanks for me for my shore dives.
We pretty much dive the same "easy access" sites over and over again. Yet every time you dive them you find something new.. Front porch, bari reef (right in front of the condo), windsock, salt pier, dive inn and now a 'new" favorite site: airport beach.
We saw octopus, lots of big tarpon, snooks, an octopus, big lionfish, lots of morays, sharp nose eels, lots of turtles, eagle rays, barracudas and lots of pretty fish.
I made my one thousand dive here.
What made this dive trip a little different is we experienced a "fishnado".
The dive masters at Dive friends told us that we might see a bait ball at the airport beach but this was entirely different.
We did our usual dive on the reef at about 35 feet and then all of a suddenly our front path became really dark.
I mean really dark and it got closer.
It was a massive wall of fish in a funnel formation that actually pulled you into it. It was amazing and cool but then you think, "hmmmm...they don't call these little mackerel fish bait fish for nothing". You could see spots of clearing when you were in the eye of the fishnado. I spotted a giant barracuda, turtles, eagle rays and a monster tuna the size of a volkswagen bug.
We witnessed this fishnado on six of our dives at this site. When we talked to other divers nobody had seen it!
We do have some pretty good go-pro film footage we just have to take the time  to edit it.
We did do some "treasure hunting" and found a new snorkel, a few coins and a single diamond earring.
We did do a night dive assuming we would see "Charlie' the tarpon. We shut off the lights and let our eyes adjust to just the moonlight. We saw a lot of flickering and jittery flash lights in clusters. I think Charlie was busy with those "new" tourists because he never came around to greet us at night (only during the day)
All in all it was a very nice trip. We banged out 3 dives a day totalling 18 dives.
But it is also good to be back home to enjoy the remainder of the summer!

AFA convention 2016

Two weekends ago I attended the American Federation of Aviculture annual convention. This year it was held in Connecticut so it was within driving distance and close to my husband's job.
We made a weekend out of it and made our first stop traveling down to our destination at an English tea house for afternoon tea. And yes it is truly a British style tea house with brewed tea in porcelain teapots. (That is the only way to serve tea! I grimace anytime I think of how some "restaurants" serve tea in a Styrofoam cup using a tea bag in luke warm water......grrrrrrrr. Only thing worse is microwaved tea. yuck) Anyways, it was pleasant stop over. Tea, pastries and little sandwiches.
People from all over the country (and world for that matter)attend this  avian convention to hear speakers, meet up with specialty groups, make contacts, socialize, compete in the bird shows, and buy stuff.
I attended a couple of the seminars which were really interesting. One speaker from Canada is in charge of HARI (Hagen avian research institute) I was interested in hearing her talk to see what new types of food is beneficial for birds. She talked about her breeding program and how they reintroduce birds back to wild. What I found very interesting is a product they use called  clay-cal. it is basically clay that is enriched with calcium they give their birds to help them digest and detoxify. Macaws in the wild naturally eat clay from a particular clay lick area in the amazon to keep themselves healthy.
Some of the other speakers had toy making workshops and ideas to keep our birds mentally stimulated and happy. Some speakers talked about free flight training and other things.
There were different birds people brought with them mostly for show. The bird in the above photo is a palm cockatoo. They are very smart but very rare. They cost $15,000.00 and you need a special permit to keep them. They are quite big and yet gentle and relatively quiet for a parrot.
I met some people there I had met from a different parrot convention in Texas a few years ago.
One of the vendors there I recognized her from years ago when I bought a budgie necklace from her.
One of her newer creations were beautiful hand custom bejeweled bracelets. One had caught my eye with a white capped caique on it that reminded me of one of my long time visitor "Ray" so I bought it. Unfortunately a piece broke off so I brought it back to see if could be repaired. It is a stunning bracelet so I should be getting back any day in the mail.
I also bought some toys for the birds and Christmas cards. ha!
All is all it was fun and interesting convention. my husband spent the day swimming in the pool. yeah!

Yankee Home Coming 2016

For last two weeks annually Newburyport has their season Yankee homecoming event. They have concerts, parades, art shows, fireworks, street performers, side walk sales, road races etc.. It's a pretty big deal for the residents of Newburyport as well as a fun event for summer tourists.
I go to it every year.
I really enjoy the art show and the side walk sales. The fancy bridal shop usually has this major clearance sale of all their formal dresses. I find the most gorgeous la de da dresses there for only $15.00! The original tags say $395.00! I happen to wear formal wear when I attend the NHSPCA gala event in November. I generally take my bike to this event since parking is limited. it was quite the challenge to bag up the gown and take it home riding my bike!
My cousins are usually very active participants in the NBPT event. One year Kim was in charge of the pet parade. Her brother  Kenny was the designated as the pooper scooper. He followed along with his wagon filled with ca ca bags. Kim also marched in their parades holding signs for local politicians.
This year, I participated in their fitness demonstrations. My zumba teacher asked her students to participate so I gladly participated in the outdoor zumba class at market square on tuesday and thursday.
* (In the above photo that is yours truly in the grey sweat pants and blue tank top! This photo was on page 11 on the weds August  3rd edition of the Newburyport daily news!)
It was really hot that day but luckily I positioned myself in a shady area. My cousin Kim was there watching and taking videos. Despite feeling sick from her chemo she still came to cheer me on!
Great fun!